Search the Community

So I know there were a number of areas that the factory applied black paint to improve the look or finish. Where are all of these areas? What is the extent of the application? What finish was the paint? Flat, semi or gloss? These are some of the areas that I can remember Some of this area behind the qtr glass Some portion of this edge on the window Behind the speaker holes Some portion of the front radiator support I also believe there was some down near the foot well or the kick panel??

Does anyone have any experience on finding modern paint to match the 240z paint codes? I am most interested in the yellows - 112 and 919.

Hello, I am going to get my 240z projekt painted in the near future but I just cant distinguish and choose between the differnt shades of blue. I know that I want a dark blue and I also have some examples of cars that I think look good, it would be great if you could help me identify some of these colors. Greetings from germany Elias I think i like this first color the most:

I just bought this 77 280z and have been trying to figure out if the paint and the strips in particular are original. I was told the paint was original (and it looks it) but I have yet to find a 77 280z with the same stripes. I have a feeling the stripes are after market but unsure. Any thoughts or insight would be much appreciated.

Hello - I joined this forum because I am selling my 1983 Datsun 280zx. Car is very clean. I am selling it to get into something more modern, but I will miss the classic styling. I am in Central PA. If you are interested you can view some pictures of the car and contact me through the craigslist add, I might not login here too often: https://york.craigslist.org/cto/6065987733.html Price is $7200 or best reasonable offer. Thank you for looking!

The engine compartment in my 70 Z was treated to a less-than-stellar, engine-in re-spray by the PO when the main bodywork was painted. Incomplete coverage, quick-and-dirty masking. I'm hoping to remedy that, but I'd like to get some opinions on how to go about it. Here's where things stand at the moment: Engine is still in the car, but completely stripped. Only the block, head, valve cover, timing cover and oil pan are still in place. Exhaust downpipe still attached to the main pipe. Just hanging in open space. Could be removed, I suppose, if it helps with paint gun clearance. Firewall, fender aprons, and rad bulkhead stripped pretty much clean of lines, wiring and parts. All that's left are the fuel delivery/return line and the vapor return line. I really, really don't want to hoist the engine out if I can help it. Nor do I want to remove the hood. I'll be forced to lean in over the fender on each side to do the application, leaning on the top of the valve cover for support when necessary. The spray angles and access for the firewall and the rad bulkhead don't look too bad. Nor do the top halves of the fender aprons. However, gun angles for lower fender aprons and the tops of the frame rails will challenged by the engine being in the way, so the paint will need to be shot at a downward angle of about 60 degrees. Does anyone have any hands-on experience with painting the engine compartment with the engine in place like this. Any tips for gun choice and technique? Also: Any tips for getting decent coverage under the battery support bracket? If have available a regular gun with a 1.3mm nozzle, a touch-up gun with a 0.8mm nozzle, and an airbrush. The new paint is a dark green metallic catalyzed (two-pack) urethane. It'll be going on top of the dark green urethane that was previously laid down by the PO (sanded and cleaned, of course).

So on Friday I sent emails to about 7 car restorers and body shops in northeast New Jersey to get informations so I can choose a shop. These places ranged from auto body shops that do new cars and collision repair to antique car restorers that specialize in porsches and American midcentury stuff. So far everyone is refusing to give me an estimate, even ballpark, which I kind of understand but kind of don't I work in a field that is prone to scope creep and schedule slips due to unforeseen issues (digital experience design), so I get that people don't want to get locked into estimates that are wilding out of line, but I also know that once you've done similar projects more than twice you can get fairly close, given the condition that the budget is renegotiated after things pop up. Long story short, the first response I got back quantified the labor for stripping, welding in new floors and filling belt line trim holes, dipping, epoxy priming, 3-stage painting, and undercoating at 950 hours or more at $85 / hour. This seems insane to me. Can anyone give me an idea of what this kind of bodywork should take, labor wise? Or conversely, can someone talk me into not doing all of this stuff? I understand that dipping could probably be the first thing cut from my list, but I have seen a lot of projects that get completely stripped and quality paint done, and I can't imagine that that many people are over investing in their Zs.

Hi guys, Im having some trouble deciding what to do with this situation. The pictures I have attached are of the inside of the A pillars LH and RH side. As you can see not much rust there Only minor surface rust, but this area is not easy to reach, so im down to two options: 1. Use light and penetrating oil as rust inhibitor with long slim hose - possible to clean the outside up if it runs. 2. Use the long slim hose with a spraypaint - not sure of how that would end up? I worry that the paint way will run on the the pretty yellow paint, which would be a shame. But ill definitly have to do something, since the car is going to drive in Denmark. What have you guys done to the A pillars inside? Sorry for the picture quality, cheap endoscope camera But on the tablet it was clear that there was no rust other then the surface corriosion on the pictures.

I have 3 alternators for use on the 01/70 resto I am completing. The only photos I can find are of the internally regulated units. However, I would like to disssassemble the externally regulated unit and restore it to the factory appearance. The main issue i'm having is locating the original stator band colour. The one that is in the center of the alternator and goes around the entire unit. I've seen cast-iron grey, green, and also red. This is for the externally regulated unit, which I have a new regulator for as well- so I would like to continue using this one instead of the internally regulated rebuilt unit I have. I think all 3 of the alternators I have are in good working condition, but I have to EXT regulated units that I can mix and match parts from if that's not the case. Thanks!

Hi guys. I have a Nichira Datsun 240z Exhaust... It is a full unit with a seamless bent pipe. Looks to be in great condition. I was wondering if anyone has any pics of what the full unit is supposed to look like. From what I understand, the later 70's Z's have a Nichira exhaust with the part number last 5 digits being N3300... I'm not sure if this transfers well to the early 01/70 early z's E4100 5 digit suffix. Does anyone have any insight into the original finish/exhaust system for the 01-70 z's?

I want to restore some parts I have, including an automatic shift plate, and I'm wondering if anyone here knows the best way to repaint the silver, rectangular outline on the shift plate. I know there was also chrome paint used on many of the panels (like the console choke plate), so I want to know where to buy this type of paint and what brushes/painting tools I will need to make this look professional. Any ideas?

I bought this from a friend who took the car apart and had all the rusted parts replaced. The car has been primed and is ready to be put back together. I am not sure what I should do with the underside. I am going to blast it using walnut shells prime it and paint it flat black. Then should I undercoat it before putting the the rest of the suspension and drive train in?

I am in the process of of hanging plastic before i paint the underside. I dont have a painting booth so im hanging up plastic, it will work for what im doing for now.

My 1970 240z is in the shop getting painted and I was wondering if anyone knows if the area under the cowl panel should be painted the body color or some other color. The photo below shows the area with the panel removed. There is overspray from a previous paint job, but it looks like the area itself was never red (in this case). It almost looks like the grey that is used on the rear finish panel or the grille. Any thoughts?

I'm looking for a site or file which would have actual color chips or accurate (not perfectly accurate obviously) photo's of the original Datsun Z color's. Have tried searching the web for early OEM brochures, have tried several paint sellers sites, all to no avail. Googling isn't getting me anywhere. I'm not looking for a perfect color match to paint from, just a very good representation of the colors to get a good feel for their original hue. Specifically most interested in 240 colors, and Series One colors would be ideal initially, but all up through '78 would be of value. I have Carl's paint codes & color names, am looking to match up the "chips" with those codes. Started searching this sites Body & Paint threads, but it seems I could go on forever on a page at a time search without getting to the info I'm interested in :)perhaps there's a way to search here more efficiently? I fully understand no electronic file will give me a perfect match - but perhaps there's a source for some pretty-darned-good samples! Much Appreciated, Mike

at the advice of zed2 (whose restoration thread yall may have seen here: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34490), i have enlisted tony's body shop here in dallas to restore my 76 280z. i bought the car in january of 2009, and after burning up the engine and having to completely rebuild it, i'm now moving on to the next step. i've already done the engine bay, so tony's going to do rust repair on the rest of the body, and then paint it BRG at my request. here are the first photos of the disassembly. sorry for the poor lighting in the photos, and as always, look at my flickr account for more!

i keep my 280 out in the country in my dad's garage, and most everything is cheaper out here, but this seems a little cheaper than normal. i went to a body shop called TCB Riveria in Quinlan, TX. the guy gave my car a cursory look and told me $2500 for both the body work and the paint, or $2000 if i do the disassembly myself. the engine bay has already been done. he says that he doesn't use bondo, he uses some fiber glass product. he said the paint job would involve painting all the door jambs and both sides of the hood, hatch and doors. he showed me a few albums of cars he's done, trophies he's won. he seemed pretty dependable. i'll be sure to look at his work up close before i make a decision, but does this sound too good to be true to yall?

My car expertise is more mechanical than body/paint, so I have a question for you paint experts. I have a 240z with low miles and it still has the original paint, the lovely lime-green color, shiny and sweet. The paint is perfect except for a spot on the fender and hood about the size of a football, and which also includes the flip up tray, where the paint has wrinkled and blistered due to a previous owner's carb fire. I haven't taken it in to a body shop yet (the car is in storage for the winter) to talk to them, but I'm wondering if its even worth it to try to match and patch, or if I need to save up for a total fresh paint job? I have horrible memories of my first 240, which had an amazing orange paint job with like 10 coats of clearcoat, and the terrible orange peel that a painter left me with after repainting the hood after a chunk of ice fell on the fender from the neighbor's roof.. I was so bummed I just sold the car... Thanks. Dave